“Like the Dry Earth Misses the Rain.”
Dr. Paul Farmer’s writings on some of his work in Haiti — one of the world’s most struggling countries — offers only a very minimal glimpse at the immense proportion of suffering that a majority of its residents experience on a daily basis. In “On Suffering and Structural Violence,” Dr. Farmer speaks of structural violence and its role in causing suffering most often for the poor. The problem with structural suffering is that things that characterize aspects of one’s identity, such as gender, race or ethnicity, social status, and even sexual preference, are used against the people living in these areas of poverty and dealt with through physical and painful means if they do not meet the standards of those with higher authority. To make matters worse, those implementing the suffering are those that we are taught to trust to protect us, at least here in the United States. Another problem then is, as Dr. Farmer states in the article is that, “The poor are less likely to have their suffering noticed.” (50) This is true, as news reporters almost never report incidents like those of Acéphie and Chouchou, since they are not unique stories and therefore are not “news.” Dr. Farmer urges that it is important to address these issues and conditions because the only way to truly learn what is causing these extreme cases of suffering is by, “breaking the silence,” as he says in the article (50). However, there is more to it than just figuring out what are the causes. It’s one thing to explain suffering, but hearing stories like that of Acéphie and Chouchou help one actually understand it.
In “On Suffering and Structural Violence,” Dr. Farmer says that, “The horror of suffering is not only its immensity but the faces of the anonymous victims who have little voice, let alone rights, in history.” (41). After watching the 60 Minutes video, I couldn’t help but feel both somber and yet hopeful. Seeing that Dr. Farmer and his group wanted to take some of the chance out of children and adults dying from illnesses that are very much treatable without ever feeling pessimistic sincerely touched my heart. Knowing that there are families who are so desperate for medical attention that they will sleep overnight on the floor outside the hospital waiting to get treated really opened my eyes as to how great we have it here. Watching the interview with the MD student from Harvard choosing to work in Haiti instead of making significant amounts of money because he knew that, “This is my life’s work,” was truly an inspiration as that is what I hope to feel as I aspire a career in the medical field.
In being open and listening to others’ stories, I could obtain a lot from my community partner experience. In the article, Dr. Farmer suggests that stories like Acéphie’s and Chouchou’s are emblematic for something else other than their tragic and premature deaths. In other words, their stories symbolize much more. The only way to truly break the silence and cycle of suffering due to structural violence is by putting oneself in another person’s shoes and truly understanding what it feels like for them. In a similar way, listening and really getting to know and talk to the children I work with at CCCFS can help me understand why it is that they might be struggling. After breaking this silence, I could then use this as a tool to help the children improve in any areas they need, be it academic, social, or emotional. In the 60 Minutes video, I was sincerely touched by the part where Dr. Farmer couldn’t keep himself fully composed when reading Jolette’s thank you letter. It’s moments and relationships like these that encourage me to work with those in underrepresented communities even more. In the end, I hope to have the same effect on the children I work with at CCCFS and hopefully with the people I can one day call my patients as Dr. Farmer does on the community of Haiti in that when he leaves, they miss him, “like dry earth misses the rain.”
